Africa: Human Rights, Gay Rights

Africa: Human Rights, Gay Rights
Date Distributed (ymd): 960522

The controversy ignited last year when the Zimbabwean
government forced the closure of a stand by Gays and
Lesbians of Zimbabwe (GALZ) at the Zimbabwe International
Book Fair (ZIBF) continues to echo. At issue are fundamental
questions of the scope of human rights protections
in Zimbabwe and other African countries, issues which
have confronted and are confronting governments and
organizations in the United States and elsewhere.

An extensive review of the issue (Marc Epprecht, "Culture,
History and Homophobia") was published in the
March 1996 issue of the Harare-based Southern Africa
Political and Economic Monthly (SAPEM), as the essay
of the month. SAPEM is available from the Southern
Africa Political Economic Series (SAPES) Trust, P.O.
Box MP 111, Mt. Pleasant, Harare, Zimbabwe (Tel: 727875;
fax: 732735; e-mail sapes@mango.apc.org).

Another comment on the issue, from a U.S.-based church
organization with long involvement in Zimbabwe, is
reproduced below, with permission.

*****************************************************
April 3, 1996

The Joint Ministry in Africa

Board For World Ministries
United Church of Christ
in the United States
475 Riverside Dr., 16th Floor
New York, NY 10115-0109
Tel: (212) 870-2834; fax: (212) 932-1236

During the past eight months anti-gay frenzy and hysteria
has figured prominently in the formerly tolerant and
progressive Zimbabwe, historically one of Africa's
more viable and forward-looking nations.

It all began in July 1995 when President Robert Mugabe
shut down a book exhibit organized by the Gays and
Lesbians of Zimbabwe (GALZ) at the prestigious Harare
International Book Fair. Explaining this action, he
declared that homosexuals had "no rights at all"
and that they were "worse than dogs and pigs"
and that they should be cast out of society. He inferred
that homosexuality is not a part of African culture
and that it has been perniciously imported into Zimbabwe
by the decadent West.

Newspaper coverage of the president's remarks was very
broad throughout Africa as well as in Europe and North
America. Many analysts drew attention to Zimbabwe's
historically tolerant attitude to homosexuals. Some
pundits thought that Mugabe was using gays as a convenient
scapegoat to mobilize Zimbabwe's conservative church
constituents to vote for him in the March 1996 elections.
Zimbabwe's economy is in bad shape and the vilification
of gays could draw attention away from this reality
as well as from the existence of pervasive official
corruption in government circles.

Other commentators noted the difference between Zimbabwe
and neighboring South Africa where homosexual behavior
is not illegal (it is illegal in Zimbabwe) and where
gays and lesbians are accorded constitutional protection
and civil rights.

Zimbabwean church leaders did not take long to start
weighing in on the matter. Hardly any of them spoke
an public word of condemnation of the president's hateful
and bigoted speeches. In fact, the Zimbabwe Council
of Churches, the main ecumenical body of Zimbabwean
churches, in what appeared to be a hastily drafted
communique, stated agreement with the president on
behalf of the mainline Protestant religious community.
The communique predictably cited Leviticus as proof
that homosexuals are beyond the pale of Christian morality.

Complicating the council's response is the fact that
Harare, Zimbabwe's capital, is the projected venue
for the assembly of the World Council of Churches in
1998. While making a public show of support for Mugabe,
the council moved quietly behind the scenes to assure
the World Council of Churches, on behalf of the Mugabe
government, that gay and lesbian delegates to the Assembly
would not be harassed or barred entry to the country.

In spite of the president's injudicious remarks, the
Zimbabwean public appeared more worried about basic
survival issues such as food, housing, education, health
care and employment than with lynching gays and lesbians
and turning them into the police. And by late October
it seemed that the media had forgotten the whole affair.
In the meantime, President Mugabe laced other speeches
with sexist references and with anti-Semitic comments.

However, on the eve of the March presidential elections
(which Mugabe won), Mugabe raised the specter of vast
numbers of gays and lesbians subverting Zimbabwean
culture and morality at an international conference
of evangelicals organized by the Zimbabwe Assemblies
of God. He said that Christians should join his government
in the battle to restore moral values and fight "the
cankering worm of debauchery and the affliction of
homosexuality."

Mugabe was quickly joined in his homophobic rantings
by other leading Zimbabwean politicians. Member of
Parliament Border Gezi demanded that the police "put
them (homosexuals) somewhere where they can never be
seen because we cannot mix with such people."
His colleague in parliament, Anias Chigwedere, stated:
"The homosexuals are the festering finger endangering
the body and we chop them off...to prevent national
contamination." Zimbabwe's Department of Customs
and Excise immediately banned London's respected Gay
Times newsmagazine as "pornographic."

Even though Zimbabwe remains a popular venue for international
conferences and even though there is no indication
that the World Council of Churches is considering changing
the venue of the 1998 Assembly, some international
bodies are already discussing shifting their various
conferences to other places. They cite official homophobia
as one of the reasons. One of these groups is CITES
(the Convention on International Trade in Endangered
Species). This organization refused to hold its 1994
meeting in Denver because of Colorado's anti-gay legislation.

Disciples-UCC Africa Office Response

For more than one hundred years, the United Church of
Christ and the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
has maintained relations with people in Zimbabwe (formerly
Rhodesia). Represented by the Africa office of the
Global Ministries of the two denominations, partnerships
in Zimbabwe are with: the United Church of Christ
in Zimbabwe, the Zimbabwe Synod of the United Congregational
Church of Southern Africa, the Zimbabwe Council of
Churches, and Christian Care. More than US$100,000
in grants and staff support (there are currently four
joint Disciples/UCC missionaries in Zimbabwe) is allotted
to the country annually.

The Africa office of Global Ministries is guided by
five guiding principles including the following: "Recognizing
the freedom of God's Spirit to act in diverse ways
we commit ourselves to engage in dialogue, witness
and common cause with people of other faiths and movements
with whom we share a vision of peace, justice and the
integrity of creation."

State sponsored homophobia constituted a human rights
crisis in Zimbabwe. Alarmed by the possibility that
President Mugabe's inflammatory rhetoric would provoke
or set the stage for vigilante style lynchings and
harm to Zimbabwean gays, lesbians, bisexuals, outraged
by the comparison of GALZ members to animals, pigs
and dogs (meaning they are not even worthy of respect
as humans) the Africa office has taken four steps:

1. In September 1995 a letter was sent to the heads
of each of the four partner organizations expressing
profound concern over the events surrounding closure
of the GALZ exhibit at the Zimbabwe International
Book Fair and sharing relevant information on United
Church of Christ and Disciples formal church actions
concerning homosexuality. The letter invited dialogue
on the matter with the churches but indicated that
some day it might be necessary for the Africa office
to take a public stand on homophobic actions and statements
coming from the Zimbabwean government and churches.

2. In October 1995 the executive of the Africa office
engaged in dialogue with each of the partner organizations
while on an annual visit to Zimbabwe. The United Church
of Christ in Zimbabwe indicated only that it had no
particular thoughts on the matter and it was not on
its list of priorities to address one way or the other.
The United Congregational Church of Southern Africa,
including the Zimbabwe Synod, is engaging in a denomination-wide
study on sexuality where the topic of homosexuality
will be addressed. The Zimbabwe Council of Churches
expressed surprise that North American churches, whose
missionaries taught Zimbabweans that homosexuality
is evil, are now shifting their views. Christian Care
expressed that the letter from the Africa office had
provoked a good deal of internal staff discussion.

3. Direct contacts between the Africa office and GALZ
were established in November 1995.

4. In identifying the key advocacy issues to be addressed
by the Africa office in 1996, gay civil rights in Zimbabwe
was listed. Several articles for limited distribution
church periodicals have been published.

Recommended Action

Even though it is possible that Mugabe only used the
gay bashing card as a short term electoral device to
attract votes of conservative church members, his public
rhetoric may put into motion hate motivated dynamics
(such as gay lynching or withdrawal of civil rights
from gays and lesbians) that may not be easily contained
in the future.

The Africa office recommends that concerned church members
make known at once their outrage at Zimbabwe's officially
condoned homophobia to the office of President Mugabe
himself. They may wish to challenge the Zimbabwe Council
of Churches on its statements that simply clone theologically
the views of the Zimbabwe government. They may consider
writing to the World Council of Churches requesting
that it change the venue of its 1998 assembly from
Zimbabwe. They may consider sending a message of solidarity
directly to GALZ.

Following are addresses for correspondence. The Africa
office is interested in receiving copies of replies
coming from Zimbabwe or others on this vital African
advocacy and mission issue:

Office of the President
Pvt Bag 7700
Causeway
Harare
Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe Council of Churches
PO Box 3566
Harare
Zimbabwe

The General Secretary
World Council of Churches
PO Box 2100
CH - 1211
Geneva 2
Switzerland